Lucknow: Twenty-three persons were killed and over 60 injured when at least eight coaches of the Haridwar-bound 18477 Utkal Express derailed at the Khatauli railway station, 25 km from Muzaffarnagar, in western Uttar Pradesh this evening. The train, headed from Puri in Odisha to Haridwar in Uttarakhand, was to reach its destination at 9 pm.

Two NDRF teams of 50 persons each and sniffer dogs reached the crash site for rescue operations. At least 65 ambulances from Meerut and Saharanpur were pressed into service. The injured were taken to the Medical College Hospital, Meerut, and the Muzaffarnagar District Hospital.

While Prabhu announced Rs 3.5 lakh for the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for each of the seriously injured, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who sent Cabinet Ministers Satish Mahana and Suresh Rana to the site, announced Rs 2 lakh each for the families of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured.

Sources said the S2 sleeper coach jumped the tracks and smashed into a house along the railway line. The house owner, whose father had a narrow escape, told a TV channel the track was being repaired since morning without the railway staff putting up the mandatory notice.